On March 9, 2015, an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

passenger train derailed in

Halifax, North Carolina Halifax is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 234 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Halifax County. It is known as "The Birthplace of Freedom" for being the location for the April 12, 1776, adopt ...

, after colliding with a truck carrying an

oversize load In road transport, an oversize load (or overweight load) is a load that exceeds the standard or ordinary legal size and/or weight limits for a truck to convey on a specified portion of road, highway, or other transport infrastructure, such as a ...

that was obstructing the line at a

grade crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

. There were no fatalities, but 55 people were injured.

Accident

At approximately 12:19 p.m.,

Eastern Standard Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

, an

passenger train collided with a truck, which was obstructing the track on a

in Halifax, North Carolina. The train was the northbound '' Carolinian'', from

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. There were 221 people on the train; 213 passengers and 8 crew members. Fifty-five people were injured in the accident. The locomotive and

baggage car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passeng ...

left the track when it struck the truck, which was hauling electrical equipment. GE P42DC locomotive #185 was hauling the train. The locomotive was turned on its side by the force of the accident, and one end of the baggage car was pushed into a brush-covered area next to the

railroad right of way A right-of-way (ROW, not to be confused with "right of way" without hyphens) is a right to make a way over a piece of land, usually to and from another piece of land. A right of way is a type of easement granted or reserved over the land for tr ...

. The

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

was among those injured. The truck, an

carrying a

power distribution center Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, had a combined weight of 255,000 pounds, equaling . The truck was being escorted by officers of the

North Carolina State Highway Patrol The North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) is the highway patrol agency for North Carolina which has no per-se "state police" agency. The Patrol has jurisdiction anywhere in the state except for federal or military installations and on the ...

. The truck driver was having trouble negotiating a turn, and spent eight minutes backing up and moving forward repeatedly in an attempt to complete the turn at the correct angle. As the Amtrak train approached, the driver realized he could not clear the track in time, and exited the vehicle. The truck driver was uninjured. The truck's driver, 43-year-old John Devin Black of

Claremont, North Carolina Claremont is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,352 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hickory– Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Originally known as Charlotte Cros ...

, had a valid

commercial drivers license A commercial driver's license (CDL) is a driver's license required in the United States to operate large and heavy vehicles (including trucks, buses, and trailers) or a vehicle of any size that transports hazardous materials or more than 15 p ...

, which allowed him to haul the oversize load. Black had a history of 12 traffic violations prior to the accident, including excessive speed, and driving more than once using a revoked license. At the time of the accident, the train was headed for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

from

Aftermath

A witness told a

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency n ...

operator that she did not hear a

train horn In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often kn ...

, but that the

railroad crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term al ...

lights were working at the site of the accident. Shortly after the accident North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) reported that U.S. 301, N.C. 903 and N.C. 125 were closed in all directions for emergency response, clean-up and investigation purposes. 170 of the remaining uninjured passengers were transported by bus to Richmond, Virginia to be placed on another train. The day after the derailment, authorities stated that no charges will be filed against Black in relation to this accident.

Investigation

The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

was dispatched to the accident scene, and are investigating. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) released a statement on March 9, 2015 that the department would assist Amtrak with the investigation of the accident. The FRA stated it was reviewing an on-board event recorder, interviewing the train's crew, the truck driver, and the North Carolina Patrol trooper that was escorting the truck. Investigators are also attempting to discover if proper protocol for oversized loads was being followed before the accident, as protocol calls for troopers who are escorting the vehicles to "clear their routes and inform the railroad dispatchers what they're doing".

Litigation

In May 2015,

and

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

(who owns the line) filed a civil lawsuit against Turner Transfer Company, also known as Guy M. Turner Incorporated, who operated the oversize load. The railroad companies alleged that the trucking company, and driver John Black, caused the accident by negligently hauling the oversize load across a marked railroad crossing in an unsafe manner. Both railway companies were seeking in excess of US$75,000 each.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halifax train crash, 2015 2015 disasters in the United States 2015 in North Carolina Accidents and incidents involving Amtrak Railroad crossing accidents in the United States Railway accidents in 2015 Rail transportation in North Carolina Transportation in Halifax County, North Carolina Derailments in the United States Halifax, North Carolina

Accident

Aftermath

Investigation

Litigation

See also

References